Trout, common name for many species of fish belonging
to the salmon family. Some, called sea trout, are anadromous—that is, they
ascend the rivers from the sea to breed.
Most of the species, however, live
exclusively in fresh water and are found in most of the lakes and streams of
northern regions. Their food consists of almost any sort of fresh animal matter,
such as smaller fishes, crustacea, and insect larvae. Trout, like salmon, spawn
during the spring or occasionally in the autumn, depending on the latitude and
the species. The most widely distributed species in North America is the brook
trout, or speckled trout, which is similar to the brown trout of Europe. It is
recognized by its large mouth, violet mantle, dark mottlings, and red lateral
spots, the general coloring being dark gray or green. The male has a reddish
band running along the side of the body. Brook trout are found from the
Alleghenies in Georgia to the Arctic Ocean, varying in size according to the
extent of water and the amount of food they procure, the average weight being
about 1 kg (about 2 lb). The spawning season begins in September and lasts until
December, when the female uses her tail to scrape out a hole in the gravel,
where she deposits her eggs, the male afterward dropping the milt upon them.
Only about 5 percent of the eggs become fertilized in the natural state; the
rest are generally washed out and devoured by other fish. However, as many as 90
percent can be hatched by artificial means.
The generally more active chars have smaller
scales than true trouts and live in the coldest and most secluded waters of
North America, Europe, and Eurasia. The Dolly Varden trout ranges from the Sea
of Japan (East Sea) along the coasts of Alaska and Canada to the northwestern
United States; it is a highly colored fish that has prominent spots on the body.
It is typically anadromous, but several landlocked populations are known. The
char is not a valued game fish because it does not struggle vigorously when
caught. The largest of all the chars is the Mackinaw trout, or lake trout; it is
known in Maine as the togue and in Vermont as the longe. Specimens weighing 14
kg (30 lb) are often caught and some occasionally scale as much as 57 kg (as
much as 125 lb). The color is gray or black, with lightish spots that sometimes
become red. The fish has a large mouth with strong teeth and is a gluttonous
feeder, often descending to deep water. It is found abundantly in the Great
Lakes, Hudson Bay, Alaska, Labrador, New Brunswick, Vermont, and Maine and has
been introduced into many other areas of the United States and Canada.
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Trout |
The most important of the trouts is the
rainbow trout, native to the lakes and streams of the western United States and
introduced widely throughout the world. Rainbow trout are highly prized as game
fish because they fight hard to free themselves, leaping high out of the water.
Steelhead, the anadromous form of the rainbow trout, is also a prized game fish.
Another species, found in the Rocky Mountains region, is the cutthroat trout,
known also as mountain trout. In the southern United States the weakfish and the
largemouth black bass are sometimes called trout.
Scientific classification: Trouts
belong to the family Salmonidae. Chars make up the genus Salvelinus, and
true trouts the genus Salmo. The brook trout is classified as
Salvelinus fontinalis, the brown trout of Europe as Salmo trutta,
the Dolly Varden trout as Salvelinus malma, and the Mackinaw trout as
Salvelinus namaycush. The rainbow trout is classified as Oncorhynchus
mykiss, and the cutthroat trout as Oncorhynchus clarki. The weakfish
is classified as Cynoscion regalis, and the largemouth black bass as
Micropterus salmoides.